The Orange Peel sues partner in Rabbit Rabbit venture

UNCERTAIN FUTURE: The co-owners of Rabbit Rabbit are squaring off in court over the venue’s partnership. Photo by Brooke Randle

A once-harmonious partnership between two longtime Asheville businesses is now hitting all the wrong notes in a legal battle over their shared music venue.

In a social media post Jan. 8, Asheville Pizza and Brewing Co. announced the rebranding of Rabbit Rabbit to Asheville Yards Amphitheater. 

“Since 1995, Asheville Brewing has embodied the Asheville spirit as a beacon of entertainment from movies and film festivals to concerts and arcades. So, it’s only fitting that we celebrate this milestone in a BIG way, as we rebrand our iconic music venue,” the post read. “What you can expect is more concerts, more festivals, more family entertainment and the debut of Asheville’s own downtown ice rink coming November 2025.” 

While the announcement struck a celebratory tone, it was anything but for the venue’s co-owners, The Orange Peel. A case filed with the Buncombe County Superior Court on Jan. 3 by Orange Peel Events LLC and Public Interest Projects Inc. alleges that Asheville Pizza and Brewing, referred to as Ninja Brewing Inc. in the lawsuit, broke its contract, misappropriated funds and essentially pushed The Orange Peel out of the partnership against its will.

“This action includes claims for breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of corporate opportunities, tortious interference, breach of contract, and declaratory and injunctive relief,” the complaint reads. 

Prelude

What once was a Wells Fargo bank at 75 Coxe Ave. in downtown Asheville was purchased by Public Interest Projects (which has investments throughout downtown Asheville including The Orange Peel) and Asheville Pizza and Brewing in June 2019 for $2.5 million. According to the lawsuit, the two businesses created 75 Coxe Properties LLC to purchase and manage the property with each partner owning 50%.

“We’re excited to bring something fun to downtown,” Mike Rangel, co-owner of Asheville Pizza and Brewing, told Xpress at the time. “The Orange Peel events folks have been a phenomenal partner. They’re just as fun and crazy as we are and they have mad ideas, so it was definitely a great partnership.”

The two entities agreed to share responsibilities of running the venue, with Asheville Pizza and Brewing running food and beverage and The Orange Peel managing the production of large, ticketed live music shows with nationally known artists, according to the complaint.

The 3,500-capacity venue opened in August 2020 — at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. After launching with a limited schedule of live shows due to COVID-19 restrictions, Rabbit Rabbit began drawing local, national and even international acts, selling out shows and hosting the likes of Willie Nelson, King Gizzard The Lizard Wizard and Jack White.

Shaky beginnings 

While the venue and partnership appeared to be a success, according to the lawsuit filings, the relationship began on uneven footing that worsened over time.

The lawsuit alleges that while Public Interest Projects and Asheville Pizza and Brewing jointly purchased the real estate, Public Interest Projects contributed a larger share. Both entities contributed $100,000, but Public Interest Projects also contributed $700,000 toward the purchase price and operating capital. This $700,000 was treated as a loan to the shared LLC, 75 Coxe Properties. Public Interest Projects then lent another $300,000 for additional capital, while Asheville Pizza and Brewing agreed to equalize the investments, the complaint alleges.

Meanwhile, through their shared LLC, Asheville Pizza and Brewing leased the property for at least 10 years starting in September 2019. Public Interest Projects alleges that the lease was secured through misrepresentations from Asheville Pizza and Brewing about its financial health. 

“Unknown and undisclosed to PIP (Public Interest Projects) and OPE (Orange Peel Events), Ninja and ABP (Asheville Pizza and Brewing) were in a precarious financial situation in and around the time the parties entered into their agreement for the joint project, and this situation only grew worse as the project progressed,” the suit reads. 

The lawsuit alleges Public Interest Projects and The Orange Peel  consistently posted profits while Asheville Pizza and Brewing consistently posted losses throughout the entirety of the collaboration. By January 2022, the suit claims that Asheville Pizza and Brewing “had been unable to contribute the necessary extra capital to equalize the parties 2020 capital investments.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Asheville Pizza and Brewing paid itself $170,000 from 75 Coxe Properties’ bank account in March 2024, despite disagreements between Public Interest Projects and Asheville Pizza and Brewing over whether the distribution of funds “was prudent and in the best interests” of the shared venture. Public Interest Projects alleges that the sum was only paid back nine months later “after repeated demands from PIP.”

The split

The complaint claims that the parties explored reworking their agreement in 2024, but at the same time Asheville Pizza and Brewing was “in contact with business competitors and were actively working to terminate OPE from management of performances at the joint project venue.” On Nov. 25, Asheville Pizza and Brewing owners Rangel and Leigh Oder created Run Rabbit Run LLC and purported to terminate its management agreement with The Orange Peel as of Dec. 31, effectively cutting The Orange Peel out of 2025 operations. 

In a Jan. 9 social media post, Sean O’Connell, who owns Music Allies, a “boutique music agency” headquartered in Asheville, announced that he had partnered with Asheville Pizza and Brewing to help manage Asheville Yards.

“I have lived in Asheville for over 20 years and have been a longtime friend and collaborator with Asheville Brewing, who holds the lease for the venue. I have also been producing concerts and festivals around the United States for decades — from right here in Asheville,” the post reads. “I want to reassure you that Asheville Yards will continue to be locally operated. No local jobs are being eliminated. The venue will employ dozens of local workers, including sound technicians, security, bartenders, concessions, and ticketing staff, and back-of-house and front-of-house positions. And we will be hiring for new jobs, too.”

Uncertain summer

The Orange Peel and Public Interest Projects are seeking compensatory damages and punitive damages in an amount to be determined by a jury and are asking the judge to keep in place the existing management agreement. The plaintiffs are also seeking lawyers fees.

Adam Conrad, special Superior Court judge for complex business cases, will hear the case. Judge Conrad has expedited the case, but no trial date has been set.

As the parties await their day in court, uncertainty hangs over the 2025 concert season. The Orange Peel claims it booked 19 shows for the 2025 season at the venue formerly known as Rabbit Rabbit, with five more awaiting confirmation. Representatives from The Orange Peel did not respond to an Xpress request for comment about the status of the shows before press time.

Meanwhile, Asheville Yards began announcing shows on Jan. 10 for the 2025 season. Rangel said that he needed more time to respond to specific questions from Xpress but added, “There’s so much more to this story than what’s been reported so far.”

 To read the lawsuit: avl.mx/eg2

This is a developing story.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

4 thoughts on “The Orange Peel sues partner in Rabbit Rabbit venture

  1. Voirdire

    well well…. this is a good one. A well heeled partner takes on a very much less than well heeled partner and then things go south when the highly leveraged Asheville Pizza and Brewing couldn’t meet its contractual obligations with PIP in regard to the Rabbit Rabbit property/ entity. Public Interest Projects should have known better, and made an ill-advised deal in the first place ..and that’s an understatement. Then Asheville Pizza and Brewing decides to end the legal partnership without notice to their partner. Seems to me APB doesn’t have much of a case here and will find itself in a precarious and serious financially liable position once Judge Conrad sinks his teeth into this one.

    • Matt D

      Voirdire, Ninja did give notice of termination. Read Ninja’s response in the Citizen-Times posted today.

  2. indy499

    These clowns deserve each other. Can’t wait for the county to build the couple hundred units on Coxe across from the rabbit rabbit noise factory. Hope the county will be marketing to deaf people, because if not, they’ll be deaf soon after occupying one of those places.

    May they both dissipate lots and lots of $$$$ to lawyers and go broke.

    Lots of people lived in this area way before lying Rangel opened the brewery and way before he and his then partners at the now PRIVATE interest Project opened the noise factory.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.